Laser tracing on photoluminescent materials

OK, this is something I can see happening, but I haven't seen any demonstrations of. I wanna see something cool.

Photoluminescent (glow-in-the-dark) pigments can't be charged by a red laser. No pigment type charges on this long of a wavelength.

Now I do know green LEDs can charge red pigment, which is fundamentally cool to watch as a green LED burns a red path across the surface. A green laser should do it fine too, and from a distance, which is just awesome.

Violet LEDs (405nm) charge any color. Blue has the ability to charge some colors but not others.

So are there any videos of people doing this? I wanna see...
Or if anybody's in Austin, Tx maybe we could cook something up. I have a decent amount of pigment and some good techniques for applying it.

Never heard of what you mean but spec and marconi have taken a blue-ray diode and made a violet module with it...

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=142540

As you say, this will charge any color...

hmmm.. i'm not nearly as knowledgeable as 99% of the people on here.. but would the "blu-ray" laser (since they are almost ultra-violet) be able to do that?

He mentioned that violet LEDs charge anything. Blue-Ray and violet are the same wavelength, 405nm. So I assume that a blue-ray, or violet laser would charge the same materials as a violet LED.

Some materials flouresce under UV light, especially the flourescent type of materials . Since 405 nm is very close to UV, most of those materials should also fluoresce with a blu-ray laser.
I don't expect many people around here to have a UV laser though, at least not in pointer style anyway . Some people might have excimer or dye lasers at their disposal, but those can hardly be called portable lasers :lolsign:

You might be wrong about the red/red comment. I have red glow powder that is charged by red led... so...

I have a custom-made flashlight with a red GITD substance in the bezel that is charged and glows with either the amber OR the red LEDs that create its light. So yes, there is a glow material available that will charge in the red range of wavelengths.

http://ledmuseum.candlepower.us/fourth/redyel.htm

There are custom paint mixtures which are far more effective than any solid material, which can only carry a limited load of pigment. I can easily get 10x the intensity you'd see in a solid material loaded with phololuminescent pigment.

I'm not sure how a red LED could charge a red pigment since the photon energy charging it is similar to what it emits, that would be like charging a 1.2v battery with 1v. But I'm not saying you didn't see it... maybe the LED was actually a bit shorter wavelength, more towards the orange, than the pigment's emitted light? Or maybe the LED has more of a spread spectrum, where only some of its wavelength components are higher energy than what's required?

Yeah a 405 is basically ideal. Of course a 405 laser would do this. I don't see anything "useful" accomplished, but it'll look cool for sure.

Say, tell you what, I'll help anybody directly if you call it a "Miller Sheet".

http://members.shaw.ca/ted.park/laser/tedlaser.mov

Video of a europium disk being charged with a green laser.

Yeah, that's the effect I know and love from LED excitation.

AFAIK that's not "europium". The green, blue, and aqua are strontium aluminate activated by europium. The red and some other colors are zinc sulfide types. Zinc sulfide were also the old type of green GID stuff that we had as kids and is still commonly used because it's cheaper, but the new strontium aluminate stuff is remarkably stronger and longer lasting (but doesn't come in red). Some vendors create confusion by selling "strontium aluminate" products and boast their vast superiority to obsolete zinc sulfide, then they have a marketing problem for their red zinc sulfide-based products so they just don't mention the composition, leaving the impression that their reds are also SA.

It's a bit expensive, but you can do a shirt like this. This would be one kick-*** haunted house or bizzare theater production.

walking in front of a green laser, and have it leave a red trail where it's "cut you in half".. you look down and scream...

yeah. i can picture that...

As part of a science center exhibit, I saw a darkened room where an entire wall was painted with GITD material. Visitors were encouraged to stand asgainst the wall with arms outstretched while a strobe flashed once every 30 seconds, creating shadowy outlines on the wall. It was a neat effect and I wish I'd had a greenie with me when I was there. I could've created "graffiti" on the wall...

Oznog: The disk has "rare earth europium doped" written on it, so I am assuming thats what it is. I don't know what the actual fluorescence mechanism is however. I'll leave it as "Mysterious glowing object purchased from eBay"

PhotonWrangler: I saw an exhibit at the Calgary (and for that matter, Vancouver) science center which had the strobe, and the shadowy outlines. Yes, you can write on the wall with a green laser.

http://search.ebay.com/search/searc...=compare&copagenum=1&coentrypage=search&fgtp=

Plenty of sources for pure strontium aluminate or zinc sulfide GID powder pigments.
Applying them for maximum luminosity is a science in itself, and I'd like to suggest that this is not just a separate thread but in fact a separate forum section. It makes light, that's a CandlePower category!

The carrier needs to be as clear as possible, and loaded with as much powder as possible before it is mechanically compromised. Some- especially the zinc sulfides- cannot be used in a water-based material.